1. Field
This disclosure relates to an auger in an ice bin, which is provided in a refrigerator or water purifier having an ice-making machine and is capable of discharging ice pieces incrementally, e.g., one by one.
2. Background Art
In general, an ice-making machine is a device that makes ice, and that is mounted in a refrigerator, a water purifier, etc. Many attempts have recently been made to diversify and improve the quality of offered refrigerating machines, such as a refrigerator, a water purifier, etc.
Refrigerating machines that include ice-making devices may be further provided with an auger in an ice bin, which is capable of discharging ice made by an ice-making machine without opening a refrigerator door. The auger in the ice bin is generally configured to store a large quantity of ice pieces in a storage chamber and to discharge a certain amount of ice when a user selects an option to discharge ice pieces.
In refrigerator machines having the aforementioned augers within their ice bins, the ice pieces stored in the storage chamber may be stuck together, making it difficult to discharge ice pieces smoothly or preventing smooth discharge altogether. Moreover, when the ice pieces are discharged, the ice pieces may be crushed, thereby varying the amount of ice being discharged, and potentially allowing for a great amount of ice to be discharged at one time.